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Smile 2 review: A Messier, Boldest Horror Sequel
Smile 2 hits higher highs than its 2022 predecessor, but it ultimately does little more or better than its smaller parent film.
Pros:
• Naomi Scott’s fearless, committed lead performance
• Parker Finn’s assured, confident direction
• Several immediately memorable horror set pieces
Cons:
• A convoluted, messy screenplay
• A few too many fake-out twists
• An uneven balance of dark comedy and mean horror
In many ways, Smile 2 is everything a sequel to a successful, studio-produced horror film should be. It is bigger and scarier than its growing franchise’s first installment, and it features more virtuosic creative swings on the part of returning writer-director Parker Finn. Armed with a bigger budget this time around, Finn immediately ups the ante in Smile 2, which opens with a muscular, sustained piece of bravura filmmaking that both neatly and absurdly bridges the gap between its film’s plot and its predecessor’s. This sequence, impressive in its confidence, if logically thin, feels like it could have been pulled straight out of a non-Smile film. It proves, more than anything else, that Finn is a commanding visual craftsman – one capable of thriving even outside the confines of the horror genre.
Finn’s grasp on pace, exposition, and dramatic logic leaves plenty to be desired, though. Smile 2 not only adopts the same confusing, murky narrative tricks as its parent film, but also tries to take them further. It blurs the line between its characters’ reality and their hallucinations so aggressively that it causes more confused, head-scratching moments than it does the kind of audible, shocked gasps it is clearly striving to elicit. These issues, while not fatal to the film’s success, are made worse when it is revealed that Smile 2 has been marching toward a high-concept, admittedly applause-worthy punchline the whole time.
Smile 2 is a sequel that largely proves to be, much to its detriment in its second half, slavishly devoted to the template set by its parent film, but it still delivers bursts of originality and finds ways of differentiating itself. The biggest and most inspired of these is its shift in perspective. While the first Smile centered around an unlikely therapist whose everyday life was purposefully and decidedly ordinary, its sequel follows Skye Riley, a world-famous pop star hoping to rebound from a spree of public scandals and a car accident that left her scarred and in chronic pain, and that killed her equally famous actor boyfriend. When Skye decides to meet up one night with Lewis, her former drug dealer, and buy a few pain meds from him, her fragile celebrity existence is shattered.
She witnesses Lewis brutally commit suicide in front of her and, though she doesn’t realize it at first, ends up the latest recipient of the same curse that plagued the characters in Smile. Before long, she is experiencing hallucinations of unblinking, ever-smiling specters and losing more and more of her grasp on reality itself. The cause of Skye’s frightening visions will be apparent right from the start to Smile fans. Finn’s sequel still finds the time nonetheless for a midpoint exposition dump in a New York City bar that – like several of Smile 2’s second-act scenes – suffers from the film’s fast-and-loose commitment to its own, already heightened sense of reality.
Smile 2 is no less cruel or mean-spirited than its parent film. On the contrary, the sequel is arguably more so. Skye is a character who, as Finn establishes early on with an unnerving cut to her literally pulling some of her own hair out, is already suffering from tremendous amounts of self-doubt, stress, guilt, and shame by the time Smile 2 begins. That makes her an easy target for the film’s ever-present monster – a parasitic demon that feeds on its victims’ trauma until there’s nothing left for it to mentally devour. By focusing this time on a celebrity, though, Smile 2 smartly manages to imbue Skye’s outbursts and hallucinations with even more weight than those experienced by Sosie Bacon’s Rose in the first Smile. Skye has more to lose – not just her life, but her reputation and the credit she’s fought to reclaim with her fans and her personal entourage.
Conclusion:
Smile 2 is a sequel that shows flashes of brilliance, but ultimately falters due to its convoluted narrative and uneven tone. Despite its many issues, the film does feature some standout performances and set pieces that are sure to leave audiences unsettled and disturbed. However, its lack of discipline and self-awareness holds it back from reaching its full potential.
FAQs:
* Is Smile 2 a worthy sequel to the 2022 film?
+ While Smile 2 shares some similarities with its predecessor, it ultimately does little to expand or improve upon the original’s concept.
* Is the film’s horror effective?
+ Yes, the film’s horror sequences are often unsettling and disturbing, although they can be uneven and sometimes feel like they’re trying too hard.
* Is Naomi Scott’s performance in Smile 2?
+ Scott delivers a committed and memorable performance as Skye Riley, bringing a sense of vulnerability and desperation to the character.
* Is Smile 2 a must-see for fans of the original film?
+ While fans of the first film may find some interesting elements in Smile 2, the sequel ultimately fails to live up to its promise.
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